Recovering from shoulder surgery; feeling crummy...
Former Member
and actually considering giving up swimming. I am so discouraged these days....
I fell and hurt my shoulder about 9 years ago. I didn't have surgery at the time (was told I didn't need it) and thought I healed correctly. Fast forward to today...after swimming 6 years I start to feel an ache in my "bad" shoulder when I swim longer than a mile. So off to the sports med doc I go....I get an MRI which looks like I might have torn cartilage, which is causing the pain. Surgery is scheduled....they find nothing. Nothing is torn; nothing to fix. So now I will have to swim with the pain....
I know that some of the tension is a result of an imbalance in my freestyle...I always breath to my left, which means I pull harder with my strong (right) side. When I try to breath to the right it all falls apart. I don't feel balanced in the water; I am sure there are a million things wrong with my stroke...I should kick more...blah blah blah.
I just started swimming again...been in the water for the last few days and I am very discouraged. I'd love to hear from folks out there who have taught themselves to breath to their uncomfortable side.... and how you did it, how long it took, etc.
Anyone else out there going through a discouraging time...or if you have in the past, how'd you get over it?
Ande - what are your thoughts?
I used to box...maybe I should just go back to the ring and stay out of the water....:(
Parents
Former Member
I've posted my experience here before. Two years ago I had an MRI which showed some arthritic changes in the shoulder but no tears. The diagnosis was impingement/tendinitis. Fortunately I was referred to a physical therapist with a lot of experience working with athletes. At the time I could not swim 1500 yards without pain. Now I swim 3-4000/day, including butterfly. Here's what worked for me:
Daily home PT exercises (concentrating on the rotator cuff and scapula)
Antiinflammatory drugs (Aleve) and ice (after swimming and at bedtime)
Glucosamine
Stroke correction
Building endurance with distance sets using a pull buoy (taking some of the strain off my shoulder)
No butterfly or paddles
Very slow increase in yardage
Patience (very important).
As for bilateral breathing, I think the main benefit is making your stroke symmetric. Catch up drills, breathing to the weak side and kicking through the breath, have helped me. The key for me was changing from a two beat kick to a four beat kick, which has also improved my body position.
I've posted my experience here before. Two years ago I had an MRI which showed some arthritic changes in the shoulder but no tears. The diagnosis was impingement/tendinitis. Fortunately I was referred to a physical therapist with a lot of experience working with athletes. At the time I could not swim 1500 yards without pain. Now I swim 3-4000/day, including butterfly. Here's what worked for me:
Daily home PT exercises (concentrating on the rotator cuff and scapula)
Antiinflammatory drugs (Aleve) and ice (after swimming and at bedtime)
Glucosamine
Stroke correction
Building endurance with distance sets using a pull buoy (taking some of the strain off my shoulder)
No butterfly or paddles
Very slow increase in yardage
Patience (very important).
As for bilateral breathing, I think the main benefit is making your stroke symmetric. Catch up drills, breathing to the weak side and kicking through the breath, have helped me. The key for me was changing from a two beat kick to a four beat kick, which has also improved my body position.
